Those were all questions my husband and I asked when we arrived back in Questa for the summer. Eagle Rock Lake is always one of our first stops when we get to town. We are not fishermen, but we love to watch people fish. We love to hike. We love the forest. We love the river. We love a new adventure, and we like to try new things. We are camped at an RV park near the lake, so it did not take us long to head to the lake. The scenery around it is so spectacular. We parked on the Old Red River Road side of the lake. We headed right, crossed over the bridge spanning the Red River … and that’s when we noticed the new path … the one less traveled.
Is that a new path? Where does it go? Does it follow the river? How long is it? Would you like to check it out?
We could tell that it was not finished, but development had begun. Some kind of plan was evolving. At the beginning of the new path was a large sign explaining who was sponsoring the project, and a brief description of what was taking place. The Village of Questa along with the State of New Mexico’s Environment Department are the project sponsors. A River Stewardship Program Grant is helping with the funding. The project partners are New Mexico Game and Fish and Riverbend Engineering, LLC.
The plan will improve fishing in the Red River downstream from Eagle Rock Lake by installing rocks and wood debris habitats for fish, digging deeper pools in the river and planting native willows and shrubs. Sounds like a winner, for sure!
There is still lots to be done for this project to be complete, but we could see that the project was well underway: Trees had been cleared and various pools in the river had been dug. Areas for fishing were evident along the bank.
We noticed that other adventurers had discovered the trail. There was a cairn and a crude tipi structure along the path. At one point a tree had fallen across the path, but it was easily traversed. The wildflowers were beautiful, and the sound of the rushing water in the Red River was hypnotizing.
Take a minute and go down the path less traveled. It will make all the difference.
Get excited about Questa and what’s happening right here … right now.
